Metamorphosis
by Sonatawind
Summary: Turbo has found himself in a bind, a mad scientist, an unknown project plotted and having to adapt to a new situation. The speedster's in it deep now…He'll have to find the strength and the help from his friends old and new to overcome this new transformation.
1. Prologue

The fastest snail alive. No one could deny how incredible the speeds Turbo could run at. Anyone who mentioned his name knew exactly who they meant. He was a national phenomenon.

No one was sure how he was able to go so fast. It almost seemed unnatural, but not many wanted to look into it. There were many who tried to replicate what Turbo was, but to no avail. The secret to his super speed was forever a mystery.

But that didn't stop scientists from taking interest in the shadows. They knew Turbo's owners would never let them close to study him. They didn't want to cause a ruckus, last thing they wanted was the police on their tails.

"I'm willing to take the risks though…"

A man in a labcoat looked at the monitor in front of him. It was a recording of one of the races Turbo had been in recently. The footage was from the race against a team that was trying to beat Turbo's team. The other snail he was racing against, Fusion, had cracked Turbo's racing shell in hopes of slowing him down.

He smiled as he saw Turbo speed past Fusion, still going strong without his racing shell. It was all natural speed, not his shell. There was no doubt about it.

"And soon… I will make great use of him."


	2. Race Trap

The morning started out like any other. Theo was awake earlier than his team and was racing around Starlight City, practicing and mostly just enjoying being able to speed down the streets without ramming into anyone. It was too early for that.

_Nothing like it...The wind in my face, the adrenaline… I love it._ He thought as he came to a stop to take a short break.

Theo looked around before blinking in confusion. There was an envelope at the edge of the little town he called home. He sped over to it and looked at who it was addressed to.

_Turbo of Starlight City… I really hope this isn't another "formal dinner." that was a disaster…_ He thought, shuddering, remembering the invitation that lead to him nearly being made into escargot. He tore open the envelop pulling out the letter inside before reading it over.

_To Turbo, the Indy 500 Champion._

_You are invited to compete in a high stakes race, against some of the best racers in the world._

_Come to Antioch Speedway tomorrow night at 8:00 PM. Come alone, this is only for you. Solo racers only._

_We hope to see you there._

Theo tilted his head a little confused but thought it over. A race by himself wasn't that strange, he didn't always race with his team… But to come totally alone?

_Well… I can't always drag 'em along with me… That wouldn't be fair… But…_ He thought it over once more, a high stakes race. Alone. No one trying to coach him from the sidelines. No Chet worrying.

… _I'm in._

"I can't believe it! We're gonna race against thee Turbo!" a jewel beetle cheered as she danced around, stretching her legs while doing so. "This is gonna be fun!"

A purple snail with a blue shell shook her head. "It isn't exactly a race Aria. Remember?"

"I know, but we still get the grace of being in his presence, that's something!" she elbowed the snail a little. "Lighten up Lil' Rose."

Lil' Rose rolled her eyes.

"Oh girls."

Lil' Rose and Aria looked up to see another snail at the door. "Boss says it's time, Turbo just arrived at the track."

"We'll be right there!" Aria chirped as she got her equipment together.

Lil' Rose shook her head. "I don't like this Aria… not one bit."

"Not like we have a choice, now come on."

Lil' Rose watched her leave before following behind her.

_Still doesn't make it right._

Turbo got into position, he was trying to stay focused but couldn't hide the excited look. "Wow… Lot of different racers…" He thought aloud. _Heh… Still gonna win though… Wait no ego. That'll make me lose.._

Aria tried not to squeal when she saw him. "Ohmygosh it's him!"

Lil' Rose chuckled. "He is kind of cooler in the flesh than on TV, the real deal."

"He's cute too!"

Lil' Rose looked around, spotting her owner at the finish line. He looked towards her, giving a nod to know he was ready.

She went over the plans in her head again.

_Few laps around the track, then catch him off guard. That's it._

Lil' Rose made her way over to Turbo, stretching a little as she got into position.

_Though I have to play loser for that surprise to work._

Turbo took note of her… and noticed she had no racing shell on… at all.

_That's weird…_ He thought. "Goin' natural for this huh?" He asked.

She jumped a little. "Yeah… Just prefer it that way."

"Alright then?"

She gave her best fake smile. "Lil' Rose, pleasure to meet you Mr. Fastest Snail in the World."

Turbo blushed a little. "Ah shucks, just call me Turbo please. Nice to meet you too."

Lil' Rose nodded, looking forward. A beetle came up to the podium, holding a small racing flag.

"On your marks!" he called out.

Lil' Rose readied herself.

"Get set!"

Turbo got into position revving a little.

"GO!"

The racers took off, Turbo at the least with his speed. Lil' Rose lagged behind, moving at a normal pace for a snail.

Her owner watched in silence, smiling.

_That's a good girl Lil' Rose… just hold back till it's time._

Turbo kept a lead as the racers made their way around the track, completing two laps. _I'm gonna win… C'mon…_ He revved up feeling the adrenaline coursing through him. He could see the finish line.

"Almost…"

ZOOM!

"There she is!" Aria chirped, keeping up her pace.

_What?_

He looked to see Lil' Rose zooming right next to him… with a streak just like his following behind her.

His eyes widened. "No way…." He gasped. _SHE HAS IT TOO!?_ He thought as he tried to push ahead.

Lil' Rose followed suit, but was keeping up with him just barely.

"Like I said… I prefer to keep it natural." she said.

"You're fast… But not Turbo fast." He replied, glancing at her stunned. He didn't realize he was starting to slow down a bit. _Come on...Focus Theo… But… FAST GIRL SNAIL!_

Lil' Rose closed her eyes. She knew what was coming.

"Forgive me…" she whispered.

She sped up, ramming right into Turbo's side, knocking him right into a cage.

He yelped and tried to speed out, only to have the cage door slammed shut in his face. "NO!" He yelled ramming into it. "LET ME OUT!" _Not again… Not again…_

_Another traitor…_

The man smiled as he picked the cage up. "Excellent work Lil' Rose." he said, taking the snail into his free hand. He whistled and Aria came hopping over into his hand.

"Now the fun really begins."

Turbo really didn't want to know what "fun" meant. He tried ramming into the cage again, revving up. "Come on..OOF!" He sighed slumping against it. It didn't work the last time either and he didn't have a bow tie to get him out of it this time.

_And… I don't have my friends either…_

"All will be well Turbo." The man said, tapping the cage a little. "There's just going to be a few changes around here."

Turbo gulped.

_I don't like that… I don't like that one bit._


	3. Lab Snails

Turbo had no idea where he was being taken. He stopped trying to ram the cage and eventually just closed his eyes, falling asleep. He was rudely woken up when he was taken out of the cage and put into a different one.

He looked around to see it… wasn't too bad. It was actually a rather comfy looking place. It had food and an area piled with small pillows for resting.

"Make yourself at home."

Turbo turned around to see a man with dark brown eyes and blond hair smiling at him. "Don't want you being uncomfortable, I'll be back in a little while."

The man left without another word, leaving Turbo to look around his current prison.

He went over to the food dish noting the man at least knew what a snail preferred. A small pile of cherry tomatoes waited for him. He decided for now he wasn't hungry though and made his way over to the pillows making himself comfortable, laying his head down. It was comfortable, but it was still eerie.

"Just what does he want with me?" He thought aloud. "I mean… I'm just… Me…" _And what did he mean by changes?_

"It's probably exactly why he wants you, because you're you."

Turbo jumped a little, looking over to the other side of the pillow pile. There he saw another snail. She had blue eyes and was indigo color in skin and had a dark purple shell. "But honestly, I don't get him some days."

"He doesn't seem that bad… But geeze…" He sighed. "I'm not perfect… I mean… Ugh… I don't know what to think right now…" A thought crossed his mind. "... You don't think he's gonna dissect me do you?"

The snail laughed. "Heaven forbid the day he ever does that. He doesn't roll that way, the only things he dissects are things that have died before he touches them."

"Phew…" He relaxed a bit. "Who are you by the way…?"

"My name's Raine, I'm one of the few normal ones around here."

"So… Everyone else is fast like me? Or… Modified?" Turbo asked, tilting his head a little.

"Majority are modified, the only one who's like you is my older sister, Lil' Rose. She's the only Turbo Replication experiment gone right… for the most part."

"Yeah… I met 'er…" He frowned a bit. _Turbo Replication experiment? If she's the only one gone right… I don't wanna imagine what the ones that went WRONG look like…_ "Raced her earlier…"

"Ah, so he got her to race after all. Guess leverage pays its dues I suppose. Lil' Rose isn't what you call a racing fanatic… let alone playing along in capturing people. She was dreading the day that our master would even TRY to catch you."

"That so? What does she like to do then?"

"She'd rather be making art in the dirt and making things for other snails, she was quite the crafts snail back where we lived."

"Huh… That's cool. Um...Mind if I ask how she well…" Turbo revved to emphasize he was curious about the speed. "I mean… How'd he do it?"

Raine sighed. "Heaven knows what. He tried all sorts of things… but if I remember correctly he made something that modified her cells, turned her super charged. However, she isn't as fast as you, she's limited and she only has super speed not those other things you can do like use your eyes as light bulbs or whatever."

"Headlights. I use 'em like headlights… But that's kind of sad… I mean, being able to go fast is awesome…" He frowned. "But stinks that she didn't have a say in it."

"Yeah… That reminds, bet the reason she went through with doing the trap was because of me, so it's nothing against you, she's just trying to be sure I don't wind up… well… mutated or whatever."

"I can't blame 'er to be honest. I got a brother, I'd do anything to protect him."

"The things we do for our siblings right?"

Turbo chuckled a bit. "Oh yes. I took on crows for my big brother…. And once dressed up like a girl because his girlfriend was mad at him…"

Raine laughed. "Oh gosh! Hahaha! You're really a devoted sibling then!"

Turbo laughed. "I try. Doesn't mean I don't mess with him though… I draw on his face sometimes when he's asleep."

"Back in the garden, I'd always hide my sister's tools in random spots just to mess with her, she'd get back at me by painting on my shell."

"Hehe awesome. Once, Chet got annoyed after I hid some of his medical stuff - he's our Team medic- and waited til I fell asleep and wrapped me up in gauze like a mummy… Then left me there for awhile."

Raine fell over from how hard she was laughing. "Oh gosh hahah! My sides!"

Turbo chuckled. "Hehe, life can be interesting with siblings can't it?"

"It really can."

He nodded. "Yeah… You're pretty nice Raine."

"Thanks, Turbo."

"Anytime." He said before going a little red as his stomach growled. "Ehehehe…"

Raine giggled. "Come on, there's plenty of cherry tomatoes to eat."

She got up, heading over to the food bowl.

Turbo followed her. "Those look really good…" He said before trying one. "Mm...Yum!"

Raine bit into one herself. "Yep, he may be nuts in the head, but he does grow good food for us."

"Guess even the nuts can do something right."

Raine nodded. "True."

He nodded finishing his. "That hit the spot." He sighed.

"Good."

Raine looked outside the cage to the door not too far from where they were.

"Quiet in there… Guess he's asleep right now."

"Huh… He said he'd be back in a little while… Though I'm not hoping he comes back anytime soon."

Raine stretched a little. "He sometimes forgets he's running low on energy."

"Lucky for us then." Turbo said yawning a little.

"You look like you could use some rest yourself."

"Yeah… It's been a long day…" He said going back over to the pillows. "Mind warning me if he comes back? I don't wanna be taken by surprise again..."

Raine nodded. "Of course."

"Thanks." He curled up in his shell a little closing his eyes. He eventually drifting off, dreaming about his brother and friends.

Raine made her way over, standing next to his shell to play guard snail.

_I know I can't stop the guy, but at least I can help Turbo feel safe._

* * *

"Turbo… C'mon wake up…" Raine whispered nudging the snail beside her.

Turbo mumbled a little. "Five more minutes mom…"

"Turbo… wake up, he's coming."

His eyes snapped open as he realized where he was. He came out of his shell and gulped looking out the cage door. "Right."

The man walked in.

"Good morning Turbo." he said, walking over to the cage. "And morning to you too Raine."

The man opened the cage, picking up Raine first and then Turbo, putting them both in his left hand.

Raine huddled in her shell a little. _I hate it when he picks me up._

Turbo kept close to her, but was giving the man an annoyed look. _Oh I really wanna bite him… I don't like that he's basically holding her captive along with her sister… And frankly I don't wanna know what he's gonna do next. _But he knew if he did, it was possible Raine would get hurt if they were dropped. He also figured it wasn't a good idea to provoke an insane person.

"Now now, Raine, no need to be scared." the man said gently, bringing them to another room. He closed the door behind him before setting the snails down. The room was rather empty save a bed that was off in the corner and a few other pieces of furniture.

"I don't get why this room… it isn't exactly his lab." Raine commented, looking around.

"I'm afraid to ask why." Theo said looking around.

"I figured you two could use some space, have a bit of time to run around instead of in that small cage of yours." the man explained as he opened a window that had a screen over it. "Get some air too of course."

"That doesn't happen much for me." Raine muttered.

"Yeah…" Turbo gave her a sympathetic look. "But of course… Window's got a screen…" _Wait…_ His eyes lit up briefly as he got an idea. "Hey… Think there's a chance I could bust that screen?"

"Maybe, but we gotta do it while he isn't looking."

"I'll leave you snails to play for a bit, in case you get thirsty." he set down a soda can. "Here's something you can drink."

The man left the room, leaving the snails to their plans.

Raine went over to the soda can looking it over. "Well he was kind of enough to have it opened already and leave a straw in… never heard of Adrenalode before."

Turbo's eyes lit up. "Adrenalode!? That's my favorite!" He grinned. "It tastes awesome… Well... kind of. It depends… Once drank this old bottle of it from like 15 years ago and it melted something…"

Raine looked at him, her eye twitching a little. "Sounds more like you're drinking acid willingly."

Turbo gave her a kicked puppy look. "But it's yummy acid."

"Well… can't really have an opinion on it cause I've never had the stuff and this is the first I've heard of it."

"Got it… Well can't go plotting on a dry throat." He said before looking at the can a little look of longing in his eyes. _Mine… All mine… My precious._

"I guess… I'm still weirded out."

"Sorry… You don't have to drink it if you don't want to." Turbo gave her a sheepish grin. "Last time I got on a caffeine rush my bro confiscated the last of my Adrenalode stash so I haven't had it in awhile."

"It's all good… maybe I could try a little, not like it's poisoned, seems like he really just wants us to get our energy out, he commonly prefers to keep me and the others healthy."

"I could see why given what goes on here…" Theo replied before looking at the can. "Mind if I take the first drink?"

"Knock yourself out."

He nodded before taking a drink. He cringed a bit as it stung a bit. He was used to it before but it wasn't like how he remembered. _Tastes weird too…_

"My turn?" Raine asked, making her way up the can.

"S-sure." He said moving back wincing a little. _Ngh… It burned…_ "Wait… Raine…"

Raine looked over to him, her mouth just barely touching the straw. "Yeah?"

"That didn't taste right… It burned my throat."

Raine's eyes widened a little as she hurried over to him. "Let me see. Say ah."

"Ahh…" He opened his mouth trying not to wince.

Raine looked. "Hm… your throat looks fine… odd…"

"Sure doesn't feel fine… I mean it always felt weird before, but it didn't BURN. I wouldn't drink it if I were you.."

"Okay… maybe you should lie down Turbo, we got a giant bed in here so the pillow should do."

He nodded. "Right…" Soon enough he was curled up on the pillow eyes closed, shaking a little.

Raine sat beside him.

_There's no way he would make us sick on purpose… _Raine thought as she looked at Turbo with sympathy in her eyes. _But there's no doubt something was in that drink._

"Want me to stay right here Turbo?" she asked.

"If you don't mind…" He didn't want to be alone right now. _Ngh… I don't feel so good…_

"I don't mind." She lowered herself lying next to him. "Been awhile since I've had any kind of company so I wasn't sure if this was okay or not."

"It's fine… I'd prefer having someone close by actually." Turbo huddled close to her. "And… You can call me Theo…"

"That your real name?" she asked.

Theo gave a nod. "Yeah. Turbo's my nickname, slash racing name."

"Okay… Theo."

He smiled before settling down trying to get some rest.

Raine kept close, stroking his shell a little to help him relax.

"Sorry this is happening Theo…"

"Not your fault that guy's totally nuts…" He replied wincing some. "Ngh…"

"Where does it hurt?"

"It's all over…"

"Oh no…" Raine looked around panicking.

_What do I do? What do I do?_

"Raine… Even though I don't trust that guy… Maybe getting him might be a good idea… I don't know if that soda was bad or if he messed with it… I just want it to stop hurting.."

"But I don't know how to get his attention, he just left us in here."

Theo thought it over. Then an idea came to him. He just hoped he could get it to work. "I got an idea…" He closed his eyes clearing his throat… Until loud heavy metal music started to play as he tapped into a radio station.

Raine gasped jumping back a little. "Sweet mother of tomatoes!"

Theo kept it going for a bit before coughing as it turned off. "Ngh… Just call me the Snail Radio."

The door to the room opened and the man came in. He made his way over to the snails, a questioning look on his face until he saw the expression on Theo's.

"Looks like the drink was too strong." he commented, pulling a little capsule offering it to Theo. "Just rest it off."

Theo wasn't sure he trusted him to take it, but he didn't see much choice. It was either take it or keep suffering. He took it before laying his head down curling up in his shell a little.

"There we go…" the man whispered before offering a capsule to Raine. "You too young lady."

Raine hesitated before doing the same, falling asleep not too long after.

Theo fell asleep right beside her relaxing finally, huddling close to her in his sleep.


End file.
